Skip to main content

Boo!

Do you think that we in the States are putting too much emphasis on Halloween? I couldn't believe this year. Everywhere we went we were being stared at by skulls, ghosts, witches, mummies, and demonic looking creatures of every sort. It was ridiculous and enough to make a child have nightmares for months.

Did the scariness of the times warranted such an emphasis? I don't think so. In Brazil there is no Halloween because they still practice the Day of the Dead on November 1 (thus October 31 is all hallow eve). That sad practice has blinded generations to the true fear that they should have towards a Christless eternity.

With the godly moorings of our country fading further and further from our perspective we can be assured that the coming Halloweens will be even more strange

However, a lot of seemingly scary stuff has happened recently. With the crash of the stock market, the floundering auto industry, and the political climate, it is enough to make the bravest soul tremble. The bravest non-family member that is.

We have been encouraged and strengthened as we have fellowshiped with friends and family in a church where the pastoral staff preaches and teaches the unchangeable Word of God! Appropriately enough, Pastor Moreno has been preaching through the book of the Revelation. It is such an interesting, challenging, and helpful study in these interesting and challenging times.

We also have had opportunity of sharing, in some of our supporting churches, blessings that God has allowed us to be a part of this past term in Brazil. Encouraging others helps us to get our focus off our problems and back on our Savior who is in complete control of times like these.

With the elections finally over we look with anticipation to the future of our great country. We pray that as we meet some of you during these coming months that we will be mutually encouraged and busy in the work of our coming King. Pray that we will continue steady on His course of action and that we will be faithful to His cause. And we pray God's rich blessing on all of you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Daughter and dog...

About six months ago we discovered that Ann was pregnant and were very excited for she and Jackson. We will have babies on this side and that of the Atlantic. We weren't prepared for that news and we we were even less prepared for the news that our little dog is pregnant. To date we have spent more on the dog than on Annie (don't tell her... Ann that is). Ann has yet to discover whether her baby is a boy or girl. Both ultrasound images were inconclusive. Though I did some further investigation of my own and was startled with what I found. to me it looks as if the baby is definitely a boy and has some resemblance from both sides of the family. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.
3 comments
Read more

Urgent Prayer (part 2)

Does God ever give you a gut punch? He did that just a few days ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button and brought a few tears too. One thing that shook me was the final statement that the missionary made. He was questioning himself and said, I wonder if what I have done will make a difference. This question comes to a missionary's mind now and again as they ponder how vast God's world is and how tiny one’s work is. As I thought, and identified, with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24, “ Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” When, in Matthew, the sower sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here in John, Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his comi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Entertaining Angels

Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hospitality is a gift. It can also be a learned trait. Some people seem as if having strangers in their homes is normal and natural. Others have to fight against themselves in order to have friends over for a meal.  The author of Hebrews says that some have entertained angels when they thought that they were helping a stranger. That's weird. This statement brings questions to mind. Do angels eat? Of course, silly, they eat angel food cake!  Seriously, who in the Bible entertained angels by accident? Well, how about Abraham, Lot or Jacob? Granted, Jacob's treatment of the Angel of the Lord was questionable. But he did wrestle the night away, when in fact that angel could have dislocated Jacob's hip early in the match.  Abraham, read Sarah, prepared a big meal and Lot had to offer ...
Post a Comment
Read more